Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood Narrator: Callie Dalton, Jason Clarke
Published by Berkley, Penguin Audio on June 11, 2024
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Length: 12 hours, 30 minutes
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
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Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a few friends she can always count on, the financial stability she yearned for as a kid, and a successful career as a biotech engineer at Kline, one of the most promising start-ups in the field of food science. Her world is stable, pleasant, and hard-fought. Until a hostile takeover and its offensively attractive front man threatens to bring it all crumbling down.
Eli Killgore and his business partners want Kline, period. Eli has his own reasons for pushing this deal through—and he’s a man who gets what he wants. With one burning exception: Rue. The woman he can’t stop thinking about. The woman who's off-limits to him.
Torn between loyalty and an undeniable attraction, Rue and Eli throw caution out the lab and the boardroom windows. Their affair is secret, no-strings-attached, and has a built-in deadline: the day one of their companies will prevail. But the heart is risky business—one that plays for keeps.
Not in Love didn’t feel like other Ali Hazelwood books I have read. At first, it felt like a porn over plot type I used to read. Rue and Eli start as a chance hookup and quickly find out they are on opposite sides of a corporate takeover. I was more interested in the corporate takeover and business aspects than the sex but that doesn’t get much focus.
Rue and Eli both had rough times in their early lives. Rue had an unreliable mother so she and her brother, Vincent, had issues with food security. But Rue was lucky to have a best friend who had a more normal family. She also got a scholarship for college.
Eli lost his parents when he was in graduate school and became responsible for his younger sister Mia. At the same time, he lost his graduate school internship. So he had his younger sister and no money.
The time Eli and Rue spend together and their thoughts are nearly all having sex. They do have a little time around it to get to know each other. Trust takes more time but gradually it builds. They have some things in common.
I liked this but would have preferred more plot and character development. The sex was sizzling but made the plot there was a slower pacing.
Narration:
I really enjoyed the narration and the performance really added to my enjoyment. I looked it up and I have heard both of them before. The voices for the characters here were comfortable and brought forth emotions. I listened at my normal 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Ali Hazelwood
I’m Ali, and I write contemporary romcom novels about women in STEM and academia. I love cats, Nutella, and side ponytails. I’m also currently learning to crochet, so as you can tell I’m a super busy gal with an intense and exciting life!
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 24-COYER
I wonder why she took a different direction with this book? I would probably feel the same way with too much sex and not enough plot.
Someone said there was an author note or something at the beginning but we didn’t get that in the audio. There’s nothing wrong with it per se, but I like the STEM stuff and plot. It can be ok if the character development is strong and it’s a character story but this wasn’t quite that either. Overall it was fun but not strong enough on either front; I would have preferred it to be one thing or the other if that makes sense.
I’ve heard this was way too sexy and with little plot, which is not my preference in books… but since you mentioned that this is different from Hazelwood’s other books, I’m curious if I’ll enjoy this more bc I wasn’t a fan of the one book of hers that I’ve read (Bride).
Well I didn’t read Bride so I can’t say. I prefer the ones with more plot and science aspects though. Ones like Love Hypothesis, Love Theoretically or Love on the Brain.
I loved Bride, but it was a lot different from her other books too!
I didn’t read that or Check & Mate – were they more YA? That’s probably why.
Bride was paranormal – not YA. Check & Mate was YA.
I have this one too. Started it and then set it aside because it was getting on my nerves. I’m not one for sex over plot and I’m not looking forward to getting back into it. Plus, I feel like she makes it a point that women can go have sex without strings, over and over. Yes, we get it, women should have the same right to do what men do. I don’t need that statement to be made over and over, in every book! Plus, I don’t think it’s a safe situation to be meeting up with random guys you don’t know anything about to have sex all the time. I don’t care what anyone says, it’s different with men. They don’t have the same safety concerns here that women do. It’s unfair, but it’s the way of the world. But this is my opinion.
yes I had some of these feelings. It was just slow pacing for me without as much plot. It didn’t help I was reading Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous at the same time period which is a character study with less sex and more plot but neither book had the amount of plot I want.
Sounds like several of us had some issues. I am glad I did go back and finish it, but it was hard to get into at first.
Some people seemed to know it was more erotic than like her other stories. I don’t know if it would have helped or not. I just really need more plot and character connection.
I’ve heard of this author before. I also prefer more plot over the steamy scenes. Otherwise the premise sounds good.
All of her other books have more plot so if you try her I would suggest her others if you prefer more plot.
I’m at the point now where the sexual relations need to be incidental to the story. Thanks for your insightful review, Anne💜
yes, thank you Jonetta.
I love the STEM focus of Hazelwood’s books but they are a bit too spicy for me. I like the sound of this one but it’s not top of my list. Great review!
This one is THE SPICIEST of her books and I have read nearly all of them.
I didn’t necessarily feel like there was too much sex or it was that crazy, but I just didn’t need it and like you said needed more of the story. I will keep reading because I like all her other books, but this one just wasn’t a winner for me.
yes, not my favorite. I’m not sorry I read it though.